Winemaking
This is how our wines come about in the cellar. What several lines have in common is described here. What makes a line its own is on its page.
The three lines in brief
All three lines are organic wines from our vineyards in the Thermenregion. Classic are the wines that most often end up in the glass at our Heuriger: true to the variety, reliable and good to drink while young.
Selection gets more time. Half of the whites lie in wooden barrels, the reds spend a year in used barrels.
Reserve is the patient line: the longest in the barrel and, depending on the variety, also in new oak.
For all three lines
The destemmer plucks the berries off rather than threshing them, and a hose pump moves the mash into the press without crushing it.
Instead of sulphuring the must, we work with must yeasts. The whole mash passes through a tube heat exchanger to below 15 °C. That cool, it can stand for four to twelve hours. After pressing we stir up the must again and again for six hours.
Fining is done with pure potato protein: our cellar works one hundred percent vegan. We don't use flotation, but let everything settle in the cold room instead.
Fermentation is done with a single neutral sparkling wine yeast, which we prepare at the start of harvest and then pass on from tank to tank. It's neutral so you taste the vineyard, not the yeast.
Red wine in all three lines
After fermentation the wine stays on the skins for ten to twenty days. Then it is pressed. After two days of settling it goes straight into the barrel.
Selection red and Reserve: malolactic fermentation in the barrel
We don't do malolactic fermentation during the alcoholic fermentation but afterwards in the barrel, over the first winter. The wine lies on the fine lees while it happens. Often it isn't finished until February, sometimes not until May. Only then do we sulphur for the first time. That saves a considerable amount of sulphur.
Which wines belong to which line
- Classic: Frivolo Gemischter Satz, Grüner Veltliner classic, Muskateller classic, Neuburger classic, Riesling classic
- Selection: Chardonnay selection, Nepomuk cuvée selection, Pinot blanc selection, Rotgipfler selection, St. Laurent selection, Zweigelt selection
- Reserve: Furore cuvée reserve, Intuition cuvée reserve, Merlot reserve, Pinot gris reserve, Pinot noir reserve, St. Laurent reserve, Zweigelt reserve
More about the cellar and why we work this way: Cellar.